TV talk

AMC will begin showing three back-to-back encore episodes of the series starting on Sunday, July 31st.  Here is the full schedule from the AMC website -

http://www.amctv.com/schedule#series/Mad-Men

So this is a great time to start watching this acclaimed series if you haven't already seen it.  For those who are fans already this will have to satisfy you, since there will not be a new season this summer.

Mad Men has been nominated for 19 Emmy's this year!

New book...

I just started reading a new book by Katie Couric called The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives.  This is a great book, full of wonderful advice from a wide variety of people, including many actors (such as Meryl Streep, Jane Lynch, Larry David and Michael J. Fox) and others including Matt Lauer, Michelle Kwan and Stephen Colbert.  Many of the entries are actually graduation speeches that the participants were asked to give.  I'm about halfway through and it's a fast read, can't put it down sort of book.  I think everyone can relate to these moving essays.  If you see the book at your favorite bookstore, just glance through the titles of each entry and I'm sure you will want to purchase one!

Goodreads

Check out the free books you can enter to win on www.goodreads.com.  They have a big variety of pre-released books offered by the authors and publishers.  I've been lucky enough to win twice.  You could be a winner too but you have to join Goodreads first.  To see the long list of fiction and non-fiction books, just click on the explore tab for First Reads.

See you on Goodreads!  You'll love it!

Hungry Girl

According to the www.hungry-girl.com website, today is National Lollypop Day!  You can sign up for free daily emails from that site.  There is also a Hungry Girl TV show on the Food Network.  Check it out for good recipes and cooking tips! 

Here is some background information on Lisa Lillien, the Hungry Girl -

http://www.hungry-girl.com/who-is-hungry-girl

There are also several cookbooks with easy to follow recipes.

Quote of the Day

Today's quote is from www.goodreads.com -

Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life.  You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.

- Natalie Babbitt

Next book...

I decided to read Dennis Lehane's mystery Darkness,Take My Hand as my next book.  He is one of my favorite authors. I read Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone and liked them both.  Darkness, Take My Hand features that same detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro from Gone, Baby Gone.  I'm betting I will enjoy this one.  I'll keep you posted!

Mad Men again!

I know I missed posting this in time for the 4th of July, but I think all you Mad Men fans will still enjoy it!

https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/130f5ab921217cae

Some Good Quotes

I have always imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library.

Jorge Luis Borges

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

Joseph Chilton Pearce

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

Seneca

Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected.

Sophocles

Primetime Emmy nominations

Here is the list of nominations for the 2011 Emmy Awards -

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/14/emmy-nominations-2011/


Of course my favorite dramatic actor Jon Hamm from Mad Men was nominated again this year!  The awards show will air on Sunday, September 18th.

Celebrate Bastille Day...

Today is Bastille Day which is the French Independence Day.  Parades line the streets and fireworks light up the skies of France tonight!

Some Good Quotes

I'm not sure who wrote this quote but it's really good advice -

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

Here is another good one -

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

- Plato

A new great book...

I'm reading a great autobiography called Stories I Only Tell My Friends by actor Rob Lowe.  I'm always interests in the life stories of actors and he has had a very interesting life.  I also like the fact that he evidently wrote the whole book without a ghostwriter.  I'm on page 95 now and I'm really enjoying it! 

Mad Men news

I just read that Jon Hamm has been confirmed for three more seasons as Don Draper on Mad Men!  That must mean that the show will definitely be on for at least three more seasons.  Unfortunately, the fifth season won't debut until March of 2012 due to some kind of contract negotiation reasons that I don't really understand.  Anyway, Mad Men is one show that is worth the wait!  Cheers!

Another cookbook...

I recently picked up Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook My father's daughter from the library.  Her father Bruce passed away in 2002 from cancer.  She writes that she feels closest to her dad (who she calls the love of her life) when she's in the kitchen.  On the cover under the book's title she describes it as "delicious, easy recipes celebrating family and togetherness."  The book has nice photos of Gwyneth with her father.  She includes tips on how to have your kids help making the meals. 

I thought she might be a vegetarian and she does have some vegetarian and vegan recipes in the book but there is a wide variety of recipes.  The only thing she doesn't eat is red meat because of the way the animals are kept and processed.

Anyway, I think there are about 150 recipes in this cookbook but I haven't made any of them yet.  I have a habit of getting cookbooks and then being intimidated by them.  I had better try one of them soon before the book is due back at the library!

Some good advice

Here are some words to live by:

Don't take it all so seriously.  Life goes on no matter what and happiness is a choice.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

When all else fails, laugh!

Remember that a low mood is only temporary.